Appendiceal adenocarcinoma associated with Amyand's hernia: a case report.

We encountered a rare case of appendiceal carcinoma associated with Amyand's hernia, which was difficult to diagnose preoperatively. A 74-year-old man presented to our hospital with right lower abdominal pain. A hard mass was palpable in the right lower abdomen, and blood tests showed a slightly elevated inflammatory response.

Variability in approach to exercise stress echocardiography for diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: an international survey on real-world practice.

Aims: The diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains challenging based on resting assessments. Exercise echocardiography is often used to unmask abnormalities that develop during exercise, but the diagnostic criteria have not been standardized. This study aimed to elucidate how cardiologists utilize exercise echocardiography to diagnose HFpEF in real-world practice.

Impaired Left Atrial Reserve Function in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Left atrial (LA) dysfunction is common in heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction. However, data on the pathophysiologic impacts of impaired LA functional reserve remained limited. We sought to determine the association of abnormal LA dynamics during exercise with cardiovascular reserve, exercise capacity, and clinical outcomes.

The roles of exercise stress echocardiography for the evaluation of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in the heart failure pandemic era.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for nearly 70% of all HF and has become the dominant form of HF. The increased prevalence of HFpEF has contributed to a rise in the number of HF patients, known as the "heart failure pandemic". In addition to the fact that HF is a progressive disease and a delayed diagnosis may worsen clinical outcomes, the emergence of disease-modifying treatments such as sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists has made appropriate and timely identification of HFpEF even more important.

Prognostic utility of cardiopulmonary exercise testing with simultaneous exercise echocardiography in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Aims: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) combined with exercise echocardiography (CPETecho) allows simultaneous assessments of cardiac, pulmonary, and ventilation in heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This study sought to determine whether simultaneous assessment of CPET variables could provide additive predictive value over exercise stress echocardiography in patients with dyspnoea.

Methods And Results: CPETecho was performed in 443 patients with suspected HFpEF (240 HFpEF and 203 controls without HF).

Comparison of Prognostic Abilities of Palliative Prognostic Index, Laboratory Prognostic Score, and Palliative Prognostic Score.

Context: Few studies have compared the prognostic value of scoring systems based on physical and blood parameters in terminally ill patients with cancer.

Objectives: This study evaluated the prognostic abilities of Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), Laboratory Prognostic Score (LPS), and Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP).

Methods: We included 989 terminally ill patients with cancer who consulted for admission to our palliative care unit.

Predictors of 1-year mortality after gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Purpose: One-year mortality is important for referrals to specialist palliative care or advance care planning (ACP). This helps optimize comfort for those who cannot be cured or have a lower life expectancy. Few studies have investigated the risk factors for 1-year mortality after gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC).

Clinical features and risk factors for appendiceal diverticulitis: a comparative study with acute appendicitis.

Purpose: Despite their similar clinical characteristics, appendiceal diverticulitis (AD) and acute appendicitis (AA) are pathologically distinct. This study compared the clinical features of AD and AA and identified relevant risk factors.

Methods: Patients who underwent appendectomy with a preoperative diagnosis of either AD or AA were categorized based on histopathological findings.

Contributions of anemia to exercise intolerance in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction-An exercise stress echocardiographic study.

Aims: Anemia is common in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and is associated with exercise intolerance. However, there are limited data on how anemia contributes to reduced exercise capacity in patients with HFpEF. We aimed to characterize exercise capacity, cardiovascular and ventilatory reserve, and the oxygen (O) pathway in anemic patients with HFpEF.

Pathophysiologic and prognostic importance of cardiac power output reserve in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Aims: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a syndrome characterized by multiple cardiac reserve limitations during exercise. Cardiac power output (CPO) is an index of global cardiac performance and can be estimated non-invasively by echocardiography. We hypothesized that CPO reserve during exercise would be associated with impaired cardiovascular reserve, exercise intolerance, and adverse outcomes in HFpEF.

Characterization and prognostic importance of chronotropic incompetence in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Background: Exercise intolerance is the primary symptom of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Chronotropic incompetence has been considered to be common and contribute to poor exercise capacity in HFpEF. However, clinical characteristics, pathophysiology, and outcomes of chronotropic incompetence in HFpEF remain poorly understood.

Effects of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists in Early-Stage Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background: Hospitalization with a first episode of heart failure (HF) is a serious event associated with poor clinical outcomes in HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Identification of HFpEF via detection of elevated left ventricular filling pressure at rest or during exercise may allow early intervention. Benefits of treatment with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) in established HFpEF have been reported, but use of MRAs is not well studied in early HFpEF without prior HF hospitalization.

Diagnostic value of reduced left atrial compliance during ergometry exercise in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Aims: Diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains challenging in patients presenting with chronic dyspnoea. We sought to determine the diagnostic value of reduced left atrial (LA) compliance during exercise to diagnose HFpEF.

Methods And Results: Ergometry exercise stress echocardiography was performed in 225 patients with HFpEF and 262 non-heart failure controls (non-cardiac dyspnoea [NCD]) in Protocol 1, where the diagnosis of HFpEF was defined by the HFA-PEFF algorithm.

Incremental diagnostic value of post-exercise lung congestion in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Aims: Lung ultrasound (LUS) may unmask occult heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) by demonstrating an increase in extravascular lung water (EVLW) during exercise. Here, we sought to examine the dynamic changes in ultrasound B-lines during exercise to identify the optimal timeframe for HFpEF diagnosis.

Methods And Results: Patients with HFpEF (n = 134) and those without HF (controls, n = 121) underwent a combination of exercise stress echocardiography and LUS with simultaneous expired gas analysis to identify exercise EVLW.

Significance of Preoperative Pulmonary Function on Short- and Long-Term Outcomes Following Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer.

Background: Preoperative pulmonary function assessment is useful for selecting surgical candidates and operative methods and assessing the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between preoperative pulmonary function and short- and long-term outcomes in patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Methods: Of the 1040 patients with gastric cancer (stages I-III) who had undergone R0 gastrectomy between 2009 and 2020, 750 who underwent preoperative spirometry were included.

Long-term survivor who underwent surgical resections of repeated peritoneal oligometastases from colon cancer : a rare case report.

A 74-year-old woman underwent right hemicolectomy and partial ileal resection for ascending colon cancer with synchronous peritoneal metastasis. Histopathological examination showed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with mucinous component, pT4b N3 M1, and Stage IV. Postoperative chemotherapy comprising 36 courses of mFOLFOX6 with bevacizumab was administered.

Diagnosis and clinical implication of collision gastric adenocarcinomas: a case report.

Background: Collision tumors are a subtype of simultaneous tumors wherein two unrelated tumors collide or infiltrate each other. Collision gastric adenocarcinomas (CGA) are rare and difficult to diagnose, and their clinical implications remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to reveal diagnostic methods for CGA and provide insight into its implications.

Non-tumor forming and diffusely spreading invasive pancreatic cancer.

A 78-year-old man presented to our hospital with loss of appetite and epigastric discomfort. Computed tomography (CT) revealed dilation of the main pancreatic duct and three cystic lesions in the pancreatic neck, body, and tail. Endoscopic ultrasonography showed a mural nodule > 5 mm enhanced with Sonazoid in a cyst.

Significance of ultrasonography in the assessment of patients with a groin mass: a large, single-center case series.

Aim: There is a concern that the differential diagnosis of a groin mass depends on a physicians' subjective judgment and experience. We aimed to clarify the significance of US in the diagnosis of a groin mass.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included 1,898 patients who underwent US examination of a groin mass.

Clinico-bacterial and prognostic factors in patients with suspected blood stream infection and elevated serum procalcitonin levels.

This study determined prognostic factors by comparing clinico-bacterial factors based on significant elevated serum procalcitonin levels in patients with suspected bloodstream infection (BSI). We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 1,052 patients (age ≥16 years) with fever (temperature ≥38°C) and serum procalcitonin levels of ≥2.0 ng/mL, and blood culture results.

Portal vein leiomyosarcoma invading the pancreatic head.

We encountered a rare case of a pancreatic head tumor protruding into the portal vein, later diagnosed histopathologically as primary leiomyosarcoma of the portal vein. A 59-year-old woman visited our hospital because of an elevated amylase level during a medical checkup. Computed tomography showed a moderately contrasted, well-defined mass of 35-mm diameter in the pancreatic head with protrusion into the portal vein.

Superficial spreading type of early gastric cancer with diagnostic difficulty and positive surgical margin: a case report.

An 83-year-old man visited our hospital because of difficulty swallowing. Gastroscopy revealed multiple ulcers and a reddish depression in the lesser curvature of the middle stomach. The initial biopsy showed regenerative atypia, so a gastroscopy was repeated every 3 months thereafter because of suspected malignancy.